Interactive entertainment has long been a staple for college orientation, college events, and holiday parties. Interactive entertainment for college students can take many shapes and sizes. Despite its many forms, it seems to be something that college students are drawn to throughout many years, and it’s not hard to see why.
What is Interactive Entertainment?
When we say interactive entertainment, what exactly are we talking about? Interactive entertainment is any event, performance, game, or attraction that has some level of crowd participation. We’re concerned with events that have multiple people participating. A college student playing a video game by themselves may be interactive, but it doesn’t have the kind of engagement or interactivity that college students should be having with each other.
Interactive entertainment, by its nature, ends up being the perfect way for college students or really just about anybody to connect and interact with each other.
Examples of Interactive Entertainment
While there are infinite possibilities for interactive entertainment, a few examples include:
Game Shows
Trivia, Game Shows, and events that might be done in an auditorium.
These types of events are good for getting large groups of students to interact at the same time. College students love having the opportunity to compete in a game show or similar environment with their friends. Even if the student isn’t directly participating, they are still rooting for their team or classmates.
DIY Events
Create-a-Creature, Tie Dye T-Shirts, or other group art projects
This works as an interactive event because it gets students doing a productive, fun activity together. Students can design their own project or piece and show it off to others. They can make it together and overall have a good time interacting while creating.
Teamwork Events
Escape Rooms, Laser tag, and more
These events are immense amounts of fun, but they can only be accomplished as a team. You can’t do a game of laser tag by yourself, and escape rooms are designed for groups of people. These events encourage participants to work together to accomplish the goal of completing or competing in the event. You will find that even students who have never spoken to each other will be engaged and interacting with the people around them.
Inflatables
Bounce Houses, Inflatable Obstacle Courses, Bubble Soccer
These types of events bring college students out of their shells, releasing their inner child again. Big inflatable attractions that inspire people just to let loose and have some wholesome fun. These types of events would be nothing without the students participating in them. Initial participation can be a challenge with these kinds of events, but when your students engage, they will have a fantastic, sociable time.
The possibilities really are endless with interactive entertainment; there are so many more that could be perfect for your event’s needs.
Defeating Social Barriers with Interactive Entertainment
College students have a harder time than ever finding genuine social interaction. Many students opt to stay in their rooms on social media, on video, or on YouTube, rather than interacting with their other students. The loneliness epidemic is real, and students who don’t make constant efforts to engage and connect with others might find their college experience to be a lonely and unsociable one.
As event planners, it’s our responsibility to make students want to engage. It’s our responsibility to give them the confidence to come out of their shell. Interactive entertainment is perfect for that. The beauty of all these events that I have listed, and the beauty of interactive entertainment in general, is that, by nature, they are incredibly social events.
Going to a game show or doing some laser tag with your friends or classmates is an excellent way to grow closer and have good connections with fellow students. The real power, though, is that interactive entertainment can bring people together who would otherwise never interact with each other.
Entertainment as Connection
If your event promises to be entertaining, you will have students show up for the entertainment, but amidst the fun and excitement is the perfect opportunity for students to connect and bridge social gaps.
Using a Mobile Escape Room as an example, you can imagine how students are incentivised to interact and engage with each other because of the entertainment. To complete the escape room, students have to work together. I can’t overstate how much of a perfect opportunity this is for students to form connections. They’re having fun, they’re interacting with other students, it’s an exciting event with lots of things to talk about, and it’s perfect.
It’s not just escape rooms either; interactive entertainment is full of these moments where students can socially interact with eachother in meaningful ways
You don’t even have to do anything special or out of the way. The nature of the interactive entertainment will give opportunities on its own. You don’t have to monitor the event, making sure everyone is having fun and encouraging people to get to know each other. The entertainment does that for you.
Watching or doing something fun with people has always been a favorite way for people to spend their time, going back even thousands of years. Interactive entertainment is what students want, and frankly, need during their college experience. So if you are interested in bringing interactive entertainment to your campus, Contact Us today at Neon Entertainment.
